Secret of Another Kind
by AThousandTimesMore
Summary: Miley's dad has kept a secret from her for all of her life, and has finally decided to come clean about it. And Lilly has a secret of her own that she would like to share with her best friend. How will Miley react to all of the secrets in her life? Liley


_**Sorry I haven't updated recently. Enjoy!**_

Miley had no idea what she had done to get in trouble this time. Jackson was away at college and they hadn't fought in the last few weeks, so there was no chance that her dad would be scolding her about that. She hadn't used up all the hot water in the shower this time because she was in a hurry to get ready to go over to Lilly's house. And her room was clean, or as clean as it would get without a major screaming match. She shuddered. _That_ was one thing she was going to avoid at all costs.

So when her dad sat her down on the couch in the living room and sat down next to her with a serious expression on his face, she was racking her brain for _something_ that she had done wrong. He took her hand in his and squeezed it comfortingly before setting it gently on her lap.

He sighed. "Miles, there's something I have to tell you."

"What did I do this time?" she asked quickly. "Because I swear, I didn't do it. There's nothing that I've done. I've clean up the table after dinner every day, loaded and emptied the dishwasher, and I even vacuumed the living room last night!"

"No, no, no," he laughed, shaking his head and looking down at his lap. He clapped his hands and laced his fingers together. "You haven't done anything. This time it was me. And I don't know how to break this to you…."

"You know it isn't my birthday for another three months, right?" Miley interrupted worriedly. "So you still have time to plan a huge surprise party."

"Miles, will you please let me talk?" he asked with a strained smile. She nodded and looked at him curiously.

Her dad took a deep breath. "After your mother and I had Jackson, we desperately wanted another child," he started slowly, looking down at his clasped hands. "But seven months after he was born, your mother got her first bout of cancer. It wasn't too bad, but the doctor wanted her to recover fully before trying to have another child. After a year and a half of remission, we were ready to have another child. But the cancer came back and the doctor suggested… other methods."

"What… what do you mean by _other methods_?" Miley asked nervously, suddenly intent on her hands. She picked at the peeling nail polish on her fingernails.

He turned to face her, and a hand reached into her line of vision, softly touching her chin and tilting her head up so she was looking into her dad's eyes. "Don't you ever doubt that I love you any less than I love Jackson," he whispered earnestly. "Or that your mother loved you any less than she loved Jackson."

"Daddy, what are you talking about?" Miley asked, starting to get scared.

"When we found out that we would most likely never be able to have a second child because of your mother's cancer, we decided to look at the adoption agencies," he said, looking straight in her eyes. "We met a young woman, a girl really, because she was just a little older than you, who was pregnant out of wedlock and couldn't keep the child. We offered to take the child for her and arrangements were made for us to adopt the baby, to adopt _you_, once you were born."

Miley pulled away from her dad, tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me before?" she whispered.

"Because we wanted you to grow up as normally as possible," he answered desperately, trying to get her to understand. "Your mother and I agreed to take it as you got older, but you never asked any questions because you had the same color hair as your mother and no one questioned your birth origins. And when your mother died… I decided that I'd tell you when I thought you were ready."

"And I wasn't ready two months ago?" Miley asked angrily, standing up with tears running down her face. "Or a year ago? Or three years ago, for that matter? Does Jackson know?"

"Honey…" he said, reaching out for her.

She jerked away from his arm. "I'm… I'm not your daughter," she whispered. "I'm not related to you at all. Or Mamaw. Or Grandma Ruby. Or Jackson. Or Uncle Earl and Aunt Pearl. Or Uncle Bobby. Do all of them know? Did you ask them to keep it a secret?"

"Miles, please, you have to understand," he begged her.

"No, what I don't understand is why you told me now instead of a few years ago!" she yelled. "If you hadn't told me by now, why tell me at all? Why not just… keep up the big fat lie that's been my whole life?"

Her dad stood up. "Will you let me talk?" he asked.

Miley nodded stiffly.

"Your biological mother requested to meet you, and the judge didn't see a problem with it as long as you agreed," he sighed.

"Oh, so you weren't going to tell me, anyways," Miley accused.

"No, Miley…."

"Just leave me alone!" Miley yelled, running out of the living room and into her bedroom. She slammed her door shut and locked it, leaning against the door and sliding down to the ground to break down into sobs.

It was all starting to make sense now. All of the little pieces of information that didn't quite fit into the puzzle. Why people always said, "Oh, you must look like your mother," when they saw her and her dad together. Why they always assumed that she and Jackson were dating instead of being sister and brother. Why there were pictures of her mom and Jackson at the hospital when he was born, but not of her and her mother. It all fit into place now.

And now she had the chance to meet her biological mother.

Wiping the tears from her face and standing up, Miley walked over to her dresser and picked up her phone. She sent Lilly a text message that she wanted to meet her at their spot on the beach in twenty minutes. A couple seconds later, she got a reply from Lilly that she would be there and that she had something to tell her.

Then walked over to her balcony doors, opening them and slipping through to shut them behind her. Miley climbed over the balcony railing, jumping to the nearby tree and scrambling through the branches to the ground.

She took off running, her bare feet thumping as they hit the sand. Within five minutes, she was at their spot on the beach and tears were still streaming down her face. And she still had fifteen minutes to wait for Lilly.

"Miley?"

The brunette jumped in surprise and turned to see her blonde best friend standing right behind her, a worried expression on her face. Miley smiled weakly at Lilly as the blonde walked forward.

"Hey, Lilly," she choked.

"Miles, what's going on?" Lilly asked, pulling her into a hug. "What's wrong?"

"I… my dad," she sobbed into Lilly's shoulder, grasping fistfuls of Lilly's hoodie tightly in her hands. She let the sobs overtake her, sending tremors that wracked her body. Lilly held her tightly, stroking her hair and whispering comforting words in her ear.

"Okay, now tell me what's going on," Lilly whispered gently after Miley calmed down a little bit.

"My… my dad sat me d-down," Miley sniffled, pulling away from Lilly and wiping her eyes on the hem of her shirt. "And he st-started to say really w-weird stuff. Like how h-he loved me… loved me n-no matter what. Th-then he said th-that I'm adopted."

Lilly stared at her for a moment. "I… you're adopted?" she whispered.

"Is… is th-that okay?" Miley asked, her eyes starting to tear up again.

"No, of course it is!" Lilly exclaimed quickly. "I'm not going to stop being your friend just because you're adopted! I'm just… surprised. I wasn't expecting that. I was expecting more that Jake Ryan was back in town and he broke your heart for the hundredth time in a row. I thought that I might have to punch his face and break his nose again."

"You shouldn't have done it the first time," Miley mumbled.

The blonde smiled at her sheepishly. "Sorry, it's just that… he broke my best friend's heart, you know? And I was so mad at him… thank God he was too embarrassed to report it to the police or something."

"I think he was more worried about blowing my secret," Miley murmured.

"Oh… yeah… I didn't think of that."

They were quiet for a moment.

"So what are you going to do?" Lilly asked. "Are… are you going to meet your birth parents or… or are you just gonna… I don't know, keep going like you were before?"

Miley shrugged, sitting down on the sand and pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. "I don't know," she murmured. "I just… it's hard, you know? Finding out that my whole life has been a lie. It's like… it's like everyone in the world was in on something and I was the only one left out of it."

"And me," Lilly whispered, sitting down next to her. "I would never keep a secret like that from you. At least not for that long."

"Thanks," Miley whispered. "Did… was there something that you wanted to tell me? You said that there was something in your text message."

"Um, yeah," Lilly murmured hesitantly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I… I don't know, Miley." She sighed in frustration and turned away from the brunette.

"Lilly, it's okay," Miley murmured, wrapping her arms around the blonde's shoulders. "I'm your best friend; you can trust me. Whatever it is, I promise that I'll help you with it. Even if you have a crush on my brother. If it's that, then I'll help you by taking you to a therapist."

The blonde looked at her morosely.

"Oh my God, you _do_ like Jackson," Miley gasped, putting a hand over her mouth.

"No, I don't like Jackson," Lilly said softly, smiling as she shook her head. "I don't know if I could ever be that… I don't know, messed up? Yeah, messed up, to like him like that. I mean, he's a nice guy, but I could never date him, or kiss him, or… euhhh, thanks, Miles, I'm gonna have nightmares about this, now."

Miley threw her head back, laughing. She felt so much more comfortable around Lilly and the whole adoption thing with her dad was at the back of her mind at this point. "Well that's a relief," she joked. "Because I was serious about the therapy. I would have taken you just to make sure someone hadn't given you drugs or something. But if it's not that, what is it? What do you have to say to me that makes you nervous?"

"I, um…." Lilly looked away. "I'm gay."

For a moment, Miley just stared at her best friend. "You're gay?" she asked. "That's what all of this was about? Just that you're gay?" Lilly turned and stared at her with wide eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I mean, I guess I can imagine what it would be like to come out to your best friend, to _anybody_, but… you seriously didn't think that I would stop being friends with you just because you like girls, did you?"

"Yes… no…. oh, I don't know!" Lilly exclaimed, putting her head in her hands. "I just… it was scary, you know? I couldn't go to my mom because I wasn't sure how she was going to react, and if she didn't want me to live with her anymore, she would probably send me out to my dad in Boston, and I don't want to leave Malibu, and Oliver would be all weird about it, and there wasn't anyone else, and you've never really said anything about gay people…."

"Hey, hey, calm down there," Miley murmured gently, taking Lilly into her arms as she started to cry. "It's okay. I'm right here and I'm not going to leave you, okay? It's okay now; I've got you."

She rocked Lilly back and forth, and then she started crying again as she thought about how she was adopted, and they ended up holding each other and sobbing as it got later and later. When they both finally calmed down, which took a while because when one of them started to calm down, she would look at the other and start sobbing all over again, they looked at each other and smiled.

"What a pair of friends we are, huh?" Lilly sniffed, wiping her arm on the sleeve of her hoodie. "Sitting here on the beach sobbing our eyes out."

Miley nodded in agreement. "This must look kinda funny," she giggled through what was left of her tears. Suddenly they were both laughing and then they were both crying, then they were quiet and staring intensely into each other's eyes. Miley felt her eyes flutter shut as Lilly leaned towards her and she felt the blonde's lips touch her own. A thrill ran through her body and she opened her eyes to see that she was kissing her best friend. Her best _girl_ friend.

And, for the second time that night, she ran.

* * *

Two weeks later, Miley was standing in her bedroom in front of her mirror looking at her reflection. She was supposed to meet her biological mother at the park in twenty minutes and she wanted to make a good first impression. While she hadn't been talking to her dad, he talked a lot when Miley was in the room and had said that she could do whatever she wanted with this. If she wanted, she could choose not to meet her biological mom, or she could go ahead and have her be a regular part of her life.

Miley had chosen to meet her biological mother and her dad had given Miley her mother's contact information. Instead of calling her, she had chosen to e-mail her, and since then, she had gotten at least one e-mail from her biological mother, Rachel, every day for the past two weeks.

Sighing, Miley bent down and picked up her guitar case. She had let slip that she sang and played the guitar in one of her e-mails and Rachel had requested that she bring her guitar to the park so she could her Miley play and sing. The brunette was actually really excited to play for Rachel. She was excited to meet her biological mother.

"Hey, bud, are you ready to go?" her dad asked, stepping into her room.

"Yeah," Miley murmured absently, looking over her outfit one last time in the mirror. She had chosen to wear a nice pair of jeans, a white blouse with a black leather jacket over it, a pair of black boots that came up almost to her knees, and a gold necklace that had been given to her by her mom just before she had passed away.

She followed her dad out to the car and sat in the backseat, her guitar case on the seat next to her. They were both quiet the whole ride, her dad focusing on the road and Miley staring out the window at the passing scenery without really seeing anything. Ten minutes later, her dad pulled into a parking spot and she got out, taking her guitar case with her.

"Here she is," her dad murmured in her ear, setting a gentle hand on her back. Miley resisted the urge to shrug it off and followed her dad's line of sight to see a woman walking towards them hesitantly. The brunette could see the resemblance, feeling like she was looking at an older reflection of herself. The woman had her eyes, her hair, her nose, her body build… and pretty much everything of Miley's.

"Hi, are you… Miley?" the woman asked when they were a couple feet apart.

Miley opened her mouth, but no words came out because her tongue and throat were so dry, and she snapped it shut, sufficing with nodding. "Yeah," she finally rasped. "I'm Miley. Are you… are you my mother?"

The woman smiled. "Yeah, I'm Rachel."

"I… I… it's nice to meet you," Miley stuttered.

Rachel smiled, and Miley recognized the toothy grin as nearly identical to her own. "Is that your guitar?" she asked gently.

"Um, yeah, do you wanna hear me play?" Miley asked quickly, comfortable with playing her guitar. Rachel smiled and nodded and Miley led her over to an empty bench, sitting down and taking her guitar out. She looped the shoulder strap around her neck and over her shoulder, tuning her guitar before looking at her biological mother.

"Um, do you sing?" she asked shyly.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Rachel responded with another grin.

"Do you know 'Time of Your Life?'" Miley asked.

"Yeah."

"Sing with me, then," Miley smiled, strumming her guitar. She started to sing and Rachel quickly joined in.

_Another turning point;  
__A fork stuck in the road.  
__Time grabs you by the wrist;  
__Directs you where to go._

_So make the best of this test  
__And don't ask why.  
__It's not a question  
__But a lesson learned in time._

_It's something unpredictable  
__But in the end it's right.  
__I hope you had the time of your life._

_So take the photographs  
__And still frames in your mind.  
__Hang it on a shelf  
__In good health and good time._

_Tattoos of memories  
__And dead skin on trial.  
__For what it's worth,  
__It was worth all the while_

_It's something unpredictable  
__But in the end it's right.  
__I hope you had the time of your life._

_It's something unpredictable  
__But in the end it's right.  
__I hope you had the time of your life._

_It's something unpredictable  
__But in the end it's right.  
__I hope you had the time of your life._

Miley looked up, staring at Rachel, at her _mother_, in amazement, thinking that if she wasn't sure before now, she was positive that this woman was her biological mother. She could have only gotten her singing talents from one place, and that was from Rachel, because their voices sounded almost exactly the same.

"Wow," Miley whispered, staring at Rachel.

"Wow is right," Rachel agreed. "You have an amazing voice, and you're extremely talented with that guitar. Do you play any other instruments?"

"Just the piano," Miley murmured shyly, her face blushing a bright red.

"I'm sure that you're great at playing the piano, as well," Rachel complimented her, and Miley blushed an even darker red, if possible.

"Maybe I could play for you… sometime… if you wanted," Miley stuttered. "I mean, only if… if you want to, that is. I mean, you don't have to, but I would really like to play for you… I mean…."

"It's okay," Rachel interrupted, smiling at her kindly. "I would _love_ to hear you play the piano sometime. Do you want to get something to eat and talk over lunch? Would that be okay?"

Miley looked up at her dad. "Um, would it be okay if you left me here and I called you later?" she asked, her eyes pleading for him to say yes.

He hesitated, looking between Miley and Rachel and back to Miley again. "I guess so," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Um, text me every couple hours so I know you're okay and call me when you want to get picked up, okay?"

"M'kay, thanks," she murmured, directing her attention back to Rachel.

"So, where do you want to go to eat?" Rachel asked once Miley's dad had left. "It's all on me, so don't worry about the cost."

"Um, I don't know, what's your favorite place to eat at?" Miley asked, packing away her guitar carefully.

Rachel blushed. "To be honest, I'm in love with fast food," she admitted. Miley made a face. "That's what I thought. So I was thinking we could go to that new Italian place that just opened up down the street. Do you like pasta or do you want to go somewhere else?"

"No, I _love_ Italian," Miley answered, grinning and standing up. She gripped the handle of her guitar cause tightly and followed Rachel to a small car. Rachel opened the door so she could put her guitar case in the back seat and then got in the driver's seat, motioning for Miley to get in the passenger's seat.

Once they were seated at the Italian restaurant and they had taken their orders, Rachel started asking questions.

"So you'll be graduating in a couple months, won't you?" she asked. "A month after your birthday, right? This is the big eighteen!"

"Yeah, it is," she grinned. "How would you…? Oh, yeah, you…."

"Gave birth to you, yeah," Rachel murmured.

"Can I ask you a question?" Miley asked hesitantly.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why… why did you give me up?" Miley asked, looking at Rachel with tears in her eyes. "Was I not good enough for you?"

"Oh, no, honey, don't ever think that," Rachel said, reaching across the table and gently placing her hand on top of Miley's. "I didn't want to give you up, Miley; you have to believe that. I loved you so much. When I held you in my arms for the first time, I thought that you were the most perfect little baby in the whole world. And when I held you for the last time, all I wanted to do was hold you close and never let go."

"Then why?" Miley asked tearfully.

"Because it wouldn't have been fair to you," Rachel murmured, pleading with her eyes and trying to make her understand. "I couldn't give you anything. My parents kicked me out of the house when they found out I was pregnant and I had no way to support myself, let alone another person. When your parents offered to adopt you, it was a blessing from heaven. I didn't have to worry about hurting you at all. I wanted you have the best life possible. I gave you up because I loved you so much."

Miley nodded and was quiet when the waiter came and set their food in front of them. She looked down at her spaghetti and picked up her fork, slowly starting to eat her food. Rachel watched her for a moment before following her lead.

"Would… would you want to come to my graduation?" Miley asked hesitantly.

"Of course I would!" Rachel exclaimed. "I would like to see you as much as possible. And, if you would allow me, I have seventeen birthdays to make up for. Not to mention holidays."

Miley smiled. "I'd like that," she murmured.

"Miley, do you know that girl over there who's been staring at our table for the past ten minutes?" Rachel asked, and Miley followed her line of vision to a table where Lilly and her mother was sitting at.

She nodded, looking away and back down at her spaghetti. "Yeah, um, that's… that's my best friend and her mom," she murmured. "But, um, the last time we talked, two weeks ago, we had a little… misunderstanding, so we haven't really figured it out."

"Well, why don't you talk to her about it?" Rachel asked.

The brunette blushed. "Because… because two weeks ago is when I found out that I'm adopted," she murmured, and a surprised looked flashed across Rachel's face. "And I went to tell Lilly, and she was okay with it, of course, 'cause she's my best friend. Then… then, she told me that she's… that she's gay, and I was fine with that because I'm her best friend and that doesn't change anything, you know? Then… then we kissed, and I ran, and now I don't know what to do."

"Hmmm," Rachel hummed. "That _is_ a difficult situation. But if you guys are best friends, you should be able to talk this out, right? If you don't mind that she's gay…."

"I don't!" Miley exclaimed. "But I just… I don't know if I… if I like her."

"Well that's a whole different situation," Rachel said with a small smile. "Miley, there's nothing wrong with liking another girl."

"I know, I just… I don't know how my dad will react," Miley muttered, blushing.

"He'll love you no matter what," Rachel told her. "Do you want to know how I know? Because I'm gay, and he knew that, both of your parents knew that, when they met me and agreed to adopt you. They had no problem with me being with another girl, and we even had a couple conversations before you were born about what they would do and how they would react if you were gay."

"But… but if you're gay, then how did you get pregnant?" Miley asked, confused.

Rachel sighed. "I was stupid," she admitted. "I went to a party and got really drunk. One of the guys took advantage of me in that state, and I ended up pregnant with you. It was something that I should have been careful about, but I'm glad that it all ended well. I don't know what I would have done if something bad had happened to you."

Miley sighed, setting her fork down on her nearly empty plate. "I… I just don't know what to do, and I can't go to my dad because he's my dad and it would be really awkward," she murmured. "This is when I wish my mom was still alive."

"I'm really sorry," Rachel whispered, reaching across the table and gripping Miley's hand in her own. "She was an amazing woman. You were lucky to have her as a mother."

The waiter came and Rachel paid the check. They both stood up and started walking towards the exit. When Miley walked by Lilly's table, she put a hand on Rachel's arm and they stopped. Miley bit her lip nervously, looking down at Lilly, giving the blonde a small smile.

"Hey, Lilly, hi, Mrs. Truscott," she murmured. "I, um, I wanted you to meet my biological mother, Rachel. Rachel, this is my best friend, Lilly, and her mom, Mrs. Truscott."

"Call me Heather," Lilly's mom said, reaching out and shaking Rachel's hand. "It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Rachel smiled. "And it's nice to meet Miley's best friend, as well, Lilly. Hopefully we'll be able to talk more. Um, I'm going to go out to the car, Miley; I'll see you out there in a couple minutes. We'll go out for dessert then you can call your dad and I'll drop off at your house."

Rachel hugged Miley and whispered in her ear. "Talk to her. It doesn't have to be now, but tell her that you want to talk." Miley hugged her back and nodded, watching as she walked out of the restaurant. Swallowing, she turned back to Lilly and her mom just to see Mrs. Truscott excuse herself to the bathroom.

"Lilly," she whispered.

"Look, I'm sorry about the other night…."

"Lilly, we need to talk," Miley interrupted, and Lilly's eyes widened. "Not now, but someplace with a little bit more privacy. I… I really want to talk." She turned and walked out of the restaurant, afraid that if she stayed any longer, she would break down crying.

* * *

Miley sat on the beach looking out at the ocean. A lot had happened in the past couple weeks and she was still trying to process all of it. She had talked to her dad about her biological mother and they had made arrangements for Miley to see her every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then for her to spend one weekend at her house every month. Miley had met Rachel's wife, Leah, who had been extremely kind and had taken an instant liking to Miley.

The brunette sighed. She still hadn't talked to Lilly since she had seen her at the Italian restaurant and that had been three days before. While she didn't really want to confront Lilly about the _incident_, she wanted it over with so they could go back to how they normally were. She missed talking to her best friend and she had a lot of things to talk to her about.

There were soft footsteps behind her and the brunette turned to see Lilly walking towards her. Miley stood up and smiled at her, ducking her head and looking down at her feet. She hated this awkwardness.

"I'm sorry," Lilly said quickly. "I'm sorry for kissing you. That was totally inappropriate and I should have never done it."

"No, don't be sorry!" Miley exclaimed, surprising Lilly. "I… I don't want you to apologize for… for that. I mean, I kind of… wanted you to do that."

"You wanted me to kiss you?" Lilly asked, shocked.

"Yes, and I know that I've been ignoring you for the past couple weeks and it seems like I'm mad at you, but I'm really not," Miley babbled. "There's just been so much happening in the last couple weeks that I didn't know how to deal with this. Like, my dad told me that I'm really adopted, then you told me that you're gay, and that kind of surprised me, and I suddenly had these _feelings_, and we kissed, and there was so much swirling around in my head…."

"Miley, stop," Lilly said with a small smile, reaching out and cradling Miley's face in her hands. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you. I understand. You don't have to explain everything to me."

The brunette blinked back tears unsuccessfully as a single tear trailed down her cheek. Lilly wiped it away gently with her thumb and Miley shook her head, swallowing hard.

"It's just… I don't know what to do," she whimpered, pulling away from Lilly and hugging herself tightly. "I mean, I have these feelings for you, and they're so strong, but… I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of?" Lilly asked.

Miley looked at her with wide eyes, full of uncertainty and fear. Suddenly she looked very small and vulnerable. "I don't want to get hurt," she said in a small voice.

Lilly moved forward, pulling her into a gentle hug and stroking her hair comfortingly. "Miley, I promise you that I will never, ever hurt you," she whispered in her ear. "Not on purpose. And if I do hurt you, I will do everything within my power to make it right."

Snuggling into Lilly, Miley mumbled something into her shirt.

"What was that, Miles?" Lilly asked curiously, pulling away from the brunette.

"Can… can I kiss you?" the brunette asked, blushing profusely.

Lilly smiled at her, cupping her face in her hands and leaning towards her. She rubbed their noses together affectionately and Miley's eyes slipped shut as Lilly's lips hovered near her own. Then they were kissing, and Miley looped her arms around Lilly's neck, melting into the blonde and their lips moved gently and lovingly against each other.

They separated and Lilly pressed their foreheads together, smiling affectionately at Miley. "I love you," she whispered.

Miley stared at her with wide eyes.

"It's okay," Lilly murmured. "You don't have to say it back. I just… I really love you."

"Me, too," Miley whispered back, and she kissed Lilly full on the lips, conveying all of her feelings in that one gesture.

* * *

At that moment, Robby Rae Stewart stood in his kitchen, leaning over the sink with a reluctant look on his face. Rachel sat at the kitchen table, a steaming blue mug in her hand as she looked at Robby's back desperately.

"She needs a mother," Rachel murmured. "And I know that it's hard for you, with Susan passing away, but she needs what I can give her. I'm not asking for you to give her up forever. And it's neither of our decision. But I want to give her the option to move in with me for a couple weeks. If she doesn't want to then she doesn't have to; I won't push it on her, or you. But she deserves this, Robby. She _needs_ this."

He sighed. "I know," he reluctantly agreed. "I just… if she finds out that I've been in contact with you all this time and that the judge said that it was fine for her to see you since she was seven, then she'll be really mad at me. And I don't want to lose my little girl. I love her."

"So do I, Robby, so do I," Rachel murmured. "I always have, and I always will. But she's growing up. And I want to spend some time with her before she goes off to college."

Turning to Rachel, he sighed again. "Fine," he relented. "We'll ask her."

_**So I've had a **_**tiny**_** bit of writer's block on "Here or There." Usually what I do is start another story, then go back and finish off the chapter. What came out was eleven pages of a story, with more to come. I've decided that since I still don't have that chapter up, I'm going to post this and hope you guys don't come at me with pitchforks for not updating yet. There will be more to this story, which will probably get written as my writer's block hits me for my other stories. And I'm off to finish off the next chapter for "Here or There."**_

_**AThousandTimesMore**_


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